Second Year Players Could See Major Development in 2021

Robbed of the typical G League experience, the class of 2020 could see a major jump in the upcoming season.

The NBA could potentially have their first “normal” season since 2019 this year, and it’s still unclear what kind of impact it will have on rosters across the NBA.

Not only were health and safety protocols the law of the land last year, playing through an ongoing pandemic also meant a reduced slate for the NBA G League, as they had to enter the Orlando Bubble to play.

While there were success stories with Ty Jerome, Moses Brown, Jalen Hoard and Aleksej Pokusevski, it still remains to be seen what exactly last year’s second-rounders and undrafted crop can do.

Two of those guys, Rob Edwards and Josh Hall, had a chance to feature for the Thunder in Summer League action.

Edwards averaged 12.5 points in 21.3 minutes per game last year for the Blue, shooting 41.3 percent from field goal range, and Hall played a team-low 15.0 minutes per game, adding just 2.0 points per game while battling through injury.

But Hall’s continued development earned him a two-way deal with the Thunder in 2021, and he said he’s looking forward to having a more normal environment to continue to grow in this upcoming season.

“The staff and the trainers, they were just encouraging (last year),” Hall said. “I didn’t have a full summer with the team to get better and to get stronger because of the pandemic. So you know just coming in and trying to capitalize off that.”

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Hall said he’s already seen positive improvement based of his ability to add some size this offseason, and he’s excited to get back to work with the Thunder.

“The next step is getting back in the gym and just going back home,” Hall said. “Just trying to translate everything that I’ve learned over the last month.”

Edwards is also looking forward to continue to develop physically, which is much easier now that the team can get back to regular workout schedules.

“Working on my body, making sure I’m healthy,” Edwards said, “just making sure I’m healthy.

“Making sure I stay athletic and just be able to get a bunch of shots up every day.”

The Thunder have a lot of developing to do over the next few seasons, and while the spotlight in 2021 will be focused on the 2021 draft class, the 2020 rookies could look to improve leaps and bounds here in Year 2. 

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